"Take it from the top Marv"

**rovereab** · 03-09-2015, 02:29 PM

I wonder if Diana saying "Take it from the top Marv" on the alternate version of Don't Knock My Love means that this is a "duet" performance of the song? It's clear from the released version that Diana recorded her vocal again whereas Marvin's vocal is the same track.

Just a thought but what do you all think?

**reese** · 03-09-2015, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by rovereab

I wonder if Diana saying "Take it from the top Marv" on the alternate version of Don't Knock My Love means that this is a "duet" performance of the song? It's clear from the released version that Diana recorded her vocal again whereas Marvin's vocal is the same track.

Just a thought but what do you all think?

I think the most recent Taborrelli book on Diana says that it was during the session for DON'T KNOCK MY LOVE that Diana and Marvin clashed.

**midnightman** · 03-09-2015, 06:27 PM

^ If I recall, they clashed before they recorded the duet. And I think the main reason why many of the duets were recorded separately was due to their schedules and Marvin's sometimes unwillingness to show up at the studio unless he could do it on his own merit. Plus Diana was working on "Lady Sings the Blues". The duet album was supposed to have been released in 1972 but was delayed a year.

**reese** · 03-09-2015, 06:48 PM

Before they clashed, they had already recorded two songs with Ashford and Simpson. A photo of all of them in the studio appears in [[I think) THE MOTOWN ALBUM. But according to Hal Davis, it was during the session for DON'T KNOCK MY LOVE that Marvin wouldn't stop smoking and Diana asked him to refrain because she was pregnant. After that, the songs were recorded separately.